Activist May Be Fishing For Issues Very Soon

COUNTY LINES

You might consider giving Sandy Peters a call soon, if you're one of the legion of Osceola people who know her.

Understand right here, this little thought wasn't her idea.

The tough-minded former League of Women Voters president, environmental trooper and local politico didn't exactly jump at being interviewed when I worked up the nerve and called.

''I don't want some sob story,'' she said.

Neither did she ask for a lot of well-wishing from friends and acquaintances.

But damn few of us have called, and that's too bad.

Sandy could use a call now. She finished with her radiation treatments a couple of weeks ago. She's just starting to feel better, to feel like maybe taking some calls.

I last saw Sandy several weeks ago. She dropped off copies of some environmental research she'd done. She said she'd be out of circulation for a while. She never mentioned lung cancer. That information came from someone else later.

''Yeah, the Big C's got hold of me,'' she said Wednesday.

Sandy has lost about 40 pounds, partly because of being sick to her stomach all the time from the treatments. Her voice is a bit gravelly now, too, but it never was a sissy voice anyway.

The important thing is she shows no lapse of willingness to use that voice to project her strong opinions about environmental protection needs here.

''I was looking over a county commission agenda where they OK'd $1,500 for a party for the new administrator,'' she said. ''That's not a lot, but it will buy something. That's the type of thing that gripes me so much. And until the environmental groups get off their butts and push, nothing's going to happen.''

She paused, then said, ''I haven't seen anything in the paper either.''

It will be almost two weeks before Sandy learns whether the treatment was effective.

''They'll take some pictures and see how well the radiation has done. Time will tell.''

If she gets good news, she said, she already has plans.

''I'm going to spend some time fishing, and some time on me, Sandy,'' she said.

But right now she's waiting, which is why she could use a good word or so.

''July Rivers a sheriff's lieutenant stopped by one day and brought me a beautiful card,'' she said. It felt good; so did the calls from environmental leader Elizabeth Steffee, although Sandy wasn't in much shape to talk then.

''It would be nice to have other people call. It would make me feel a little better,'' she said when asked.

''But what would really make me feel good is to see some kind of something, at least some talk, get started about environmental protection here. I've had a lot of time to think about it. That's what I'd like. It's just a matter of those people getting organized.''